Supernatural: Mark Sheppard Not Returning

This may truly be the end of the road for Mark Sheppard's Crowley on Supernatural. As befitting a series that centers on battling various monsters that go bump in the night, death has always been well-acquainted with the characters of The CW's Supernatural. While the actual Death character - because of course Supernatural has one - is no longer in the picture thanks to Dean Winchester, not a season goes by without a good number of sudden demises that serve to shock and sadden the show's fanbase.

Several such deaths occurred in the final episodes of fan-favorite anti-hero - and former "King of Hell" - Crowley (Mark Sheppard). Crowley had experienced an interesting evolution on the series, being first introduced as an unrepentant villainous opportunist, willing to betray or outright kill anyone standing in the way of his pursuit of power. As the seasons wore on though, Crowley developed a sometimes oddly cozy friendship with the Winchesters, rescuing them from more than one situation they wouldn't have been able to survive without his demonic help.

While Crowley clearly sacrificed his life in the pursuit of defeating Lucifer once again, many fans were quick to assume that he would be back before too long, as death is notoriously often not a permanent condition among the Supernatural ranks. However, just yesterday, Sheppard confirmed he won't be returning as a series regular for this fall's season 13. Still, that didn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't ever come back in some form, one day. Now though, Sheppard has seen fit to make things even more final, tweeting that there are no plans for him to ever return to Supernatural going forward. Check it out below:

@TheJimMichaels With all due respect, your comment is inaccurate and misleading to the fans. There are NO plans to have me return to SPN at ANY juncture.— Mark Sheppard (@Mark_Sheppard) May 25, 2017

Interestingly, as one can see, Sheppard's tweet emphasizing that he wouldn't be coming back to Supernatural was sent in response to a tweet by co-executive producer Jim Michaels, which seemed to be leaving the door open for a eventual Crowley return. Given the context, it would appear that Sheppard is likely the driving force behind his departure from the series, perhaps seeking to try new things after inhabiting the Crowley role on at least a semi-regular basis for nearly a decade.

That said, one shouldn't discount the possibility that Crowley could eventually be recast, if Supernatural's producers end up wishing to bring the character back, but Sheppard himself doesn't want to. Crowley is a demon after all, and has briefly possessed other vessels than his own default body in the past. Still, one imagines this wouldn't be a decision producers would make lightly, as recasting such an iconic ing role could very well risk angering long-time fans, not to mention Sheppard. At present though, it appears that fans will have to learn to live without Crowley's deliciously evil deadpan snarking.